All Forum Posts by: Matthew Harrison

Agree with those before me.  It all depends on the scope of work and your available time to put towards organizing and finding the right contractors.  How hands on this project do you want/plan to be? Do you have a base of knowledge that can be useful? I personally would always play the role of GC myself.

@Danny Van Warren is one of the most strict municipalities to work with in Metro Detroit.  Their applications are the longest and have short time frames for work to be completed.  I know this post is getting a bit old, have you had your first inspection yet? 

Yes I have heard that cat urine is much worse than dog.... So I guess ill be thankful for that? lol

Hello Pros... I am fairly new to the game, still learning, and trying to grow. I have a question about laws/rules about being a property manager.  I have read that you must have a brokers license to be a property manager in Michigan.  But what is stopping me from performing all (or most) of the services of a property manager without calling myself that.  I am an agent so I can market, and lease your rental.  I am a handyman, so I can perform various tasks that total less then $500.  So why can I not offer both of these services to a landlord? Is this a bit of a loop hole? Can anyone break down these rules/guidelines clearer for me to understand?? THANKS!

Hello BP. I am wondering what some opinions are from the community about my new tenants.  I just collected first months rent from my new tenants that have 2 dogs.  While in the house I noticed there are a few piles of feces and urine in the basement (which is completely unfinished, bare concrete floor and walls).  If the problem is contained to the basement, and cleaned up by the tenant at the end of the lease is this cause for any loss of security deposit? (I know the answer lies in what is outlined in my lease, so my question is what would YOUR leases dictate, or how would YOU handle the situation?)

Congrats on the completed rental, and welcome to Redford! I'm Realtor/investor/handyman from Redford if I can help you out with any future projects or deals please contact me.

hi fernando, you are making a good choice investing in Redford, ROI is fantastic! I am a realtor and investor that has lived in Redford my whole life (Just recently moved to neighbouring livonia). I know all the nearby cities well and would be happy to show you some options.

yeah I agree, after seeing the finished product 600 is a little lower than I would have liked. We actually found our renter and set the price before the project even started. Yes, refinance has been the plan though I think I may have trouble getting that rates and cash I want!

Hello all, thought I would share the story/numbers of my second rental that was my first full rehab. I over heard a coworker saying he wanted to get out of his house, and quickly said to let me know what he was ready. I picked up a 900sqft SFH on a slab (with no garage) in Redford for $15k. After paying the back taxes on the property the seller netted about 8k. The house was pretty nasty, dog and cat urine soaked into the walls rotting some of the framing. We ended up replacing a lore more drywall than originally expected, laying all new floors, gutting bathroom, all new interior and exterior doors, all new floor and door trim, "new" applicances, new lower cabinets and counter tops, and of course new paint throughout. (About 20gals of Kilz, that stuff is amazing!) oh yea, and a new hot water heater and sprung a leak a month or so into the reno. My self and my partner completed this job ourselves over 3 months. I had a full time (flexible) job that I maintained and was only able to put in half days often. He worked very hard, but is not as "handy" as I, so he did lots of the grunt work and painting while I handled all of the large installations. We paid for a good friend of mine to do the install the tile work, and also paid a family friend to sweat on all our copper fittings and do a lot of plumbing install. The tile work turned out great (we knew it would) though I now think was an unneeded expense, I have installed tile myself before. The plumbing however did not turn out well, little mistakes that had to be fixed weed after week and ultimately failing out plumbing inspection with the city. We finished the rehab in 3 months and had a fourth month eaten up by inspections. Our renter is now in as of Sept 1st.

Purchased: 15k

Rehab: 13k/4 months

Rent: 600/month

Don't know why these pictures came out sideways!  

thanks to everyone, this community is invaluable